personally i think this is a play by the resturants’s owner to negotiate in public to win public sympathy and pressure the landlord. in one article i read in the ny times it said that the owner of the resturant knew of the current increases when he renegotiated the lease a few years back. and by the way it’s not a new lease as they seem to make you think it’s just the increases that are common in a long term commerical leas, that the resturant owner was well aware of. the resturant owner is trying to make it sound like the new builiding owner is putting undue pressure on him. and i stress new owner of the building (who just took over a lease that had been previously negotiated). also the resturant’s owner was a real estate lawyer before he took over the resturant when his brother was murdered. i love the 2nd avenue deli but with the prices they charge and the crowds that fill the place this is one cry of landlord avarice that sounds a little fishy to me.